On May 9th, the president of the Jewish Federation & Family Services of Orange County, California (JFOC), Shalom Elcott, was loitering on the plaza during the first day of anti-Israel “Apartheid Awareness Week,” organized by the Muslim Student Union (MSU) at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). There, he encountered Professor Amihai Glazer. Glazer is one of 60 faculty members who signed a letter expressing the view that anti-Semitism did indeed exist on the UCI campus — including Islamic anti-Semitism. The conversation got heated when Elcott hit Glazer with coiled-up flyers after Glazer told him he had “a credibility problem.”

One potential problem was the Olive Tree Initiative (OTI), currently at UCI and spreading to other university campuses. The objective of the OTI program, sponsored by the JFOC Rose Project, was to send Jewish and non-Jewish students to Israel and the West Bank, exposing them to a variety of views from Israeli and Palestinian representatives and affording an understanding of all sides of the issues.

The problem was that some OTI students may have come back from encounters on the West Bank and Israel as converts to the Palestinian cause. Those Palestinian representatives included Aziz Duwaik, Hamas speaker in the Palestinian legislature; George Rishmawi, co-founder of the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement (ISM); and Mazin Qumsiyeh, a leading architect of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement. Duwaik was recently arrested by the IDF for the third time. Qumsiyeh was arrested by the IDF during the May 15, 2011, Al Nakba day protest in Al Wajala on the West Bank, and had been involved in an anti-Semitic email incident at a university in the U.S. in 2003. Rishmawi spoke at a November, 2010, OTI event at UCI.

The JFOC vigorously denied that OTI students met with Rishmawi, the ISM co-founder, alleging confusion over two persons with the same name — one having an S and the other an N as their middle initial. But OTI materials containing the 2008 and 2009 itineraries expressly identify George Rishmawi as an ISM co-founder.

Some JFOC officials, campus Hillel leaders, and OTI students denied the existence of Islamic anti-Semitism on campus perpetrated by MSU speakers and others in Muslim advocacy groups. Eleven students from the UCI MSU and UC Riverside MSA chapters were indicted by the Orange County DA for conspiring to disturb a public meeting at UCI on February 8, 2010, featuring the Hon. Michael B. Oren, Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Oren, ironically, was delivering a speech underwritten by JFOC’s Rose Project.

The JFOC’s credibility problem surfaced with a response to a California Public Records Act request by local activists. That information uncovered a “smoking gun” letter sent by JFOC President Elcott to UCI Chancellor Drake in October 2009. It revealed a meeting between OTI students and Duwaik. The JFOC leaders seized upon this letter as evidence that they had brought this to the attention of UCI administrators seeking an investigation. But they never informed the community. It appears that JFOC donated nearly $60,000 to the OTI over the period from 2009 to the present.

There were allegations of fraud and character assassination perpetrated by the student president of UCI Hillel in a petition supporting OTI, purportedly containing 87 student signatures. It has been reported that there were fewer than six. The petition also attacked a local community activist, Dee Sterling of the Ha’Emet (The Truth) website, for “disrupting Jewish life on campus.” Sterling had organized two pro-Israel rallies by community members, including non-Jewish Zionists, opposing the MSU Apartheid Awareness Weeks in both 2010 and 2011.

Joe Wolf, a PhD candidate at UCI, described the Hillel student petition signature fraud at PJ Media. “Sterling’s reputation,” he said, “was slandered in a letter that mischaracterized her intentions.” These disclosures began unraveling a conspiracy to cover up the truth about the OTI. The 2011 OTI program is set to roll out this summer in the midst of roiling Palestinian protests, raising concerns about possible dangers to OTI students from kidnapping or worse.

The JFOC and Rose Project leaders might find themselves confronting an incensed Jewish community for creating the OTI credibility problem. As comments in the Jerusalem Post article titled “A Very Balanced Itinerary?” reveal, JFOC leaders persist in white-washing a malformed and dangerous program indeed.

Jerry Gordon is a senior editor at the New English Review webzine.

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There is nothing surprising in this. Many campuses today have turned into breeding grounds for anti-semitic hate mongers, especially in California. It’s sad that these useful young idiots never truly and objectively examine the people the claim to be supporting, because if they did, they would see that the Palestinians are nothing but a bunch of corrupt, bigoted, Islamic radicals who have absolutely no desire to make peace with anyone, let alone the Jews. This is especially true for hateful organizations like Hamas. Propaganda has been around for years. Unfortunately, it has been all too successful these days on American campuses.

This is just hysterical nonsense stirred up by outside agitators. So, Israel gets criticized – so what? They’re treating the Palestinians like garbage and if Jewish students don’t know that or don’t want to know that – they shouldn’t be coddled like little darlings. No one is threatening Jews on any campus, and the Islamaphobia is 1000 times worse than any anti-Semitism that trickles out from a fringe element. As far as Michael Oren goes, I don’t care how slick he is – he’s a proven liar. He should never have been invited in the first place.

And why didn’t Glazer kick the other guy’s teeth in after he was hit by a rolledup coil of papers, which has the same hardness as a wooden stick (old trick in a fight!)?

If this type of physical attack goes down, defensive action must be swift and effective – giving no time to thoughts of “retreat” – the act of defense must be instantaneous and powerful enought to prevent the other from getting off the ground – shock and awe!!!

Then call for an arrest of the perp!!! – keep your foot pressed firmly on his or her neck until the police arrive or have your knee pressed forcefully into the perp’s back while on the ground, while twisting an arm behind him or her – the twist into a painful position up by the shoulder blade everytime the perp attempts to move – a “pre break/dislocation” position.

Time to stop eating potato chips people!!! time to train the body and the mind into unthinking, reflexsive responses.

There must be something in Jewish DNA; a suicidal predisposition, that in the environment of progressivism causes Jews to support and facilitate their own demise. Are there any survivalist Jews out there who can separate from these lemmings?

Liberal Jews are not in the same category as the rest of us. The more traditional ones and those of us who are largely secular but proud and practicing Jews, do not play these dangerous, suicidal games. I do not consider them to be Jews at all.

There is a subtlety that many miss. The Jews who turn against other Jews do so specifically because they see it as a way to benefit themselves at the expense of the community, which they do not care about. So terms like suicidal and self-hating are not accurate. They are opportunists with no conscience.

And folks heading the Federations and Hillels wonder why folks like me aren’t contributing any longer… Until they return to their original mission – standing up for Jewish values and community interests – they’ll get nothing from me. There are other legitimate Jewish or Israeli organizations and institutions out there which I happily support. So count me a “survivalist Jew” who *has* separated from the lemmings.

Olive Tree and ISM are sold to Jewish (and other,maybe your own) kids as “peace” or “human rights” groups, are told they seek “justice” and who is not for those things, especially if they are young, naive and impressionable
and most likley not informed of ALL the facts and history, and of course WHO is selling them this line of one-sided BS.
See Zombie’s article today to see how easy it can be done- indoctrination or education – is there any difference? Someone (and we know who) is filling their heads with hope and dreams of those wonderful sounding ideals of peace and love, buying future Rachel Corries’s. Wannabe do-gooders duped by LIARS and exploiters of their good hearts. An American dead for Fakestinian “cause” buys more headlines than a 100 dead Gazans, and so the recrutiment to Jihad, to ISLAMOFASCISM, continues to target our children. Unchecked, ignored, pooh-poohed as racist, it spreads it’s vitriol pretending to be honey.

When I was young and impressionable I joined an anti-war group. It was during Vietnam late 60′s. My grandma told me don’t you know that stuff is sponsored by commies? and I was too blind to see she was right. I thought she just feared for my future if I was blacklisted like McCarthy era times. I thought, no need to be scared this is USA, that is the past, it can’t happen again. But she knew whose hand was behind all that. And now too late, I see.

ISM is funded by International Socialist Movement- definitely communists, no if’s and or buts.

and it is not just Jewish kids who are being sold this “narrative”. Look around, they are just like their non Jewish brethren who are also in the front lines of anti-Israel- why do you all think JEWS kids are any different than other American kids? And sadly it is not just kids, certain churches, old hippies nostalgic to re-create their past, professors funded by Saudi money, a growing louder daily Islamic community, Truthers, and other jewhaters, all eager to gain converts to their perverse anti_religion call anti Zionism.

The OC jewish Federation is a joke. While they were smearing a member of the community for raising the issue of the International Solidarity Movement OTI involvement and denying that charge during 2010, they were concealing from their own community the fact that the 2009 OTI had met with a Hamas member on the West Bank.

Just wait until one of these kids is kidnapped or killed on the West Bank and watch all those lawsuits fly. Someone is going to own the Jewish Federation and the UC system.